jean vigo: C/D?

inspired by my attempt to watch zero for conduct on google video, only to realize ten minutes in that there weren't any subtitles! why on earth is there no criterion of this?

i have fond memories of watching an extremely cruddy vhs library copy of l'atalante a couple of times as a teenager, though i gather now that the version i saw was missing about 30 minutes or so.

classic! i ought to see the other two (short, right?) shorts, having only seen l'atalante and zero de conduite. i remember how blown away i was by l'atalante; i'd always expected this kinda morose griffith-esque thing, but it's as funny and vivacious as something like to have and have not, with the ensemble of grizzly old hapless sailor, pale heroine etc, with the pathos of something like murnau's tabu. CLASSIC.

There's this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jean-Vigo-Collection-disc-Collectors/dp/B00009Z52C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1234070091&sr=8-1

One of the best DVDs Artificial Eye/BFI have ever put out, as in totally necessary and vital (unlike putting out 'Salo', ffs)

i saw zero de conduite at the BAM in brooklyn about three years ago - HILARE!! did EVERYONE in france basically want to be charlie chaplin back then or what??

in bordeaux there's a small cinema named after this dude - http://www.jeanvigo.com/

See, I love my Vigo DVDs and my Salo DVD too.

I like 'Salo' ok but it was already on DVD while 'Medea' and 'Oedipus Rex' are neglected.

Probably not the place to bring this up.

the first bfi dvd of salo was a really shitty print w/ lousy sound, dunno if the newer one is remastered

totally agree abt the greatness of that vigo set - all killer no filler!

there is a complete Vigo Criterion now, obv: 2 discs. I am making my way through it.

best pillow fight ever

Just got this.

forgot how much If... owes to Zero

I saw ZDC first (about fifteen years ago on a horrid VHS transfer)

haven't seen a one. missed john cameron mitchell intro'ing ZDC at cinefamily last week on acct of illness, alas

mark sinker's book about 'if...' (which is excellent) talks a bit about the ZFC connection.

bought this when it first came out but haven't had a chance to watch any of them yet.

L'Atalanate transfer is terrific although the commentary is heavier on biography than I'd have liked. Nice to know though that apparently everyone loved Vigo.

I'm really pissed that I didn't watch L'Atalante last week while it was free on Hulu.

The CC is the first one I've paid for in eons -- if you're at all interested in him you should buy it at the next sale.

haven't gotten to L'Atalante on the disc yet... who was he bisexual with? if he was tubercular for his last 5 years that hadda cramp the cruising.

Michel Simon looks like the best kind of bear.

love that guy, but not 'that way'

Re-watched L'Atalante for the first time in years on Hulu (WmC - should be free until April 1?) and it is just ridiculously good. So much love for Simon and Dita Parlo.

got the Vigo blu for Christmas and it's fantastic. I had only ever seen L'Atlante before and it was a horrific VHS copy about 13 years ago so this was a real breath of fresh air. Haven't watched the commentary yet but I know so little about his biography that I wouldn't mind.

Jean Daste much sexier than I remembered in L'Atalante ... and that sequence of he and Dita Parlo touching themselves alone in bed....

I like the peddler's line about the dryness of the biscuits too.

Just started watching these on the Criterion disc in chronological order- "A Propos de Nice" is gorgeous, like a very French Man With a Movie Camera, and some amazingly kinetic camera work for the time- it's like he was so packed with exciting ideas for shots he had to cram every single one in a 20-minute short subject just in case he never got another chance.

I'm watching all of his stuff for the first time, working backwards through the Criterion set. It's incredible. The Nice film is an amazing debut. How many other filmmakers manage to shoot so much interesting stuff on their first try?

Finally got around to my copy of the Criterion set. Some day I mean to investigate further what Alfonso Cuarón appropriated from this on behalf of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.